Overall
- Fairbanks-College
- 103.2
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 98.2
Diff -5.0 RPP
Fairbanks-College vs Provo-Orem-Lehi
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Provo-Orem-Lehi is 4.8% less expensive than Fairbanks-College.
4.8% less expensive
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT is 4.8% less expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.2 vs 103.2). A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College buys about the same as $95,179 in Provo-Orem-Lehi; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.2 (Fairbanks-College) vs 98.2 (Provo-Orem-Lehi)
- $100k in Fairbanks-College ≈ $95,179 purchasing power in Provo-Orem-Lehi
- Services drives the gap (-41.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AK:UT 103.2→98.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AK × UT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fairbanks-College
- 107.3
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 96.4
Diff -10.9 RPP
Services
- Fairbanks-College
- 119.8
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 78.6
Diff -41.1 RPP
Rents
- Fairbanks-College
- 92.6
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 104.1
Diff +11.5 RPP
| Category | Fairbanks-College | Provo-Orem-Lehi | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.2 | 98.2 | -5.0 |
| Goods | 107.3 | 96.4 | -10.9 |
| Services | 119.8 | 78.6 | -41.1 |
| Rents | 92.6 | 104.1 | +11.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fairbanks-College 103.2
Provo-Orem-Lehi 98.2
Goods
Fairbanks-College 107.3
Provo-Orem-Lehi 96.4
Services
Fairbanks-College 119.8
Provo-Orem-Lehi 78.6
Rents
Fairbanks-College 92.6
Provo-Orem-Lehi 104.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Provo-Orem-Lehi is 41.1 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT is 4.8% less expensive than Fairbanks-College, AK, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.0-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fairbanks-College is above 100 while Provo-Orem-Lehi is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Fairbanks-College to $95,179 in Provo-Orem-Lehi, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Fairbanks-College
103.2
Cost Index
Provo-Orem-Lehi
98.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fairbanks-College would need to be in Provo-Orem-Lehi for the same purchasing power:
| In Fairbanks-College | In Provo-Orem-Lehi | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,589 | $-2,411 |
| $75,000 | $71,384 | $-3,616 |
| $100,000 | $95,179 | $-4,821 |
| $150,000 | $142,768 | $-7,232 |
$ in Fairbanks-College = in Provo-Orem-Lehi
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.2 → 98.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Fairbanks-College and Provo-Orem-Lehi share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.5 to 5.0 RPP points. Fairbanks-College remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.9 to 11.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Fairbanks-College RPP | Provo-Orem-Lehi RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 104.7 | 97.1 | 7.5 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2012 | 97.9 | 100.4 | 2.5 points Provo-Orem-Lehi higher |
| 2016 | 100.4 | 97.0 | 3.4 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2020 | 99.4 | 94.8 | 4.6 points Fairbanks-College higher |
| 2024 | 103.2 | 98.2 | 5.0 points Fairbanks-College higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Provo-Orem-Lehi more expensive than Fairbanks-College?
Provo-Orem-Lehi is 4.8% less expensive than Fairbanks-College. The overall cost index is 98.2 vs 103.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Provo-Orem-Lehi equals $100K in Fairbanks-College?
A $100,000 salary in Fairbanks-College has the same purchasing power as $95,179 in Provo-Orem-Lehi. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fairbanks-College and Provo-Orem-Lehi?
Rents in Fairbanks-College are indexed at 92.6 while Provo-Orem-Lehi is at 104.1 (national average = 100). Provo-Orem-Lehi has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.